Different Photo Library Numbers

hi MPU,

I am trying to figure this out…can’t wrap my head around it yet.
I use iCloud for all photos and videos and keeping things in sync. All my devices say they are up to date. However, I can’t explain this behavior.

Mac App - Photo Library
4,641 Photos, 449 Videos

iPad Pro - Photo Library
5,922 Photos, 539 Videos

iPhone - Photo Library
5,064 Photos, 472 Videos

I feel like I have no option than to go 1 by 1 to start comparing everything. Suggestions?

I wouldn’t waste time manually comparing the libraries. There are a couple things you can check on Mac for stick or missing uploads. Other than that, the numbers are simply not always going to line up and you can’t do anything about it. You can obtain a little assurance that sync is happening by checking the count in-browser in iCloud.com.

Glenn Fleischmann has a good summary article of the issue which I believe is still good info.

So it looks like I think I may have temporarily found the issue. It seems to be an issue with iOS 15, just my theory.

If the admins want to merge this post with another post I made , I think they relate now. I did a comparison of videos between iPhone and Mac, since the difference was small in number 472 vs 449. In turns out that on my iPhone, these were all videos that were shared with me that the Apple/Messages/iOS 15 was able to pick up. For whatever the reason, it shows up on my iPhone with 472 videos, once I started saving them, the numbers on my mac increased. Eventually, once all the videos had been saved through Photos, the Mac and iPhone both matched up.

Then I went to the iPad, to see the issue there, it turns out there were some videos that had that message bubble on the iPad, once I started saving those, then the numbers on my iPhone because to line up.

I am not sure what Apple was thinking, because something helpful that would have been nice, if there was a way to just filter those videos and do a bulk ‘save’. But that’s not an option, maybe there is some shortcut that can be created or that exists.

Anyhow, these are my findings so far for those who are interested.

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Apple spends billions creating hardware to take qazillion photos and has a photo app that’s worthless. Go figure!

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